Turn-teeth cultivator.



No. 833,627. PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.

B. PLOCH. TURN TBETH CULTIVATOR.

APPLICATION ILED APILZ. 1906.

q/@iflmcooen QWMM l f BRUCE PLOCH, OF DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

TURN-TEETH CULTIVATOFI.`

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed April 2, 1906. Serial No. 309.495.

.T0 all whom, it wwf/y concern:

Be -it known that I, BRUCE PLooH, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Danville, `in the county of Montour and State of Pennsylvania, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in rlurn-Teeth Cultivators, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to turn-teeth cultivators-that is to say, it belongs to the class of agricultural machines used, for example, in the cultivation of corn, having teeth disposed substantially vertically and adapted to turn more or less on their vertical axes. By thus turning the teeth at will the rider is enabled to throw the soil toward and upon the growing plant or away from it, as desired.

The object of my invention is the production of a cultivator or kindred machine of the typeset forth in which the teeth are adjustable bodily toward the front or rear'of the machine and in which the length of each tooth projecting below the frame may be regulated, and also means are provided for setting the teeth with respect to the devices which turn them. In other words, assuming a certain position of each tooth to be a normal or customary attitude, by the use of my invention each tooth may be turned upon its vertical aXis and again secured to the turning devices, thus establishing a new'normal position for the tooth or teeth, as more fully eX- plained hereinbelow.

It is likewise an object of my invention to make cultivators of the sort mentioned having special construction and particular arrangement of parts by which economy of manufacture is believed to result and by which the structure is very readily taken apart for renewals or repairs of any member.

I accomplish the stated objects by fashioning and associating parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 represents a plan view of all parts assembled. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the operating-lever on the left-hand side of the frame; but as both operating-levers are precisely alike in every respect the illustration may be taken for either. Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section of one side of the frame, showing the tooth, the supportingblock, and the devices employed when the tooth is adjusted as contemplated. Fig. 4 represents afragment, enlarged, of one of the side bars, showing the position of the supporting-block and the clamping-bolts securing it in position.; and Fig. 5 is a side view of the supporting-block alone.

Like letters are employed to referto the same parts throughout.

The letters A and B refer to cross-pieces by which the pairs of side bars C D and E and F are held together to constitute the frame of my invention. The pairs of side bars are usually, though not essentially, arranged to diverge to the rear, as drawn in Fig. l.

The pairs of side bars have the connectingbars G and H running parallel with them, and the connecting-bars are separated by levers, as that shown in Fig. 2 and marked J. The lever is provided with a pivoted handlatch K, coupled pivotally by link L with the spring-bolt M. The end of the bolt engages the notches of the toothed quadrant N, and the lever may thus be removably held in any one of several inclined positions, and the connecting-bars G and H will be moved correspondingly. The companion lever is designated by the letterOand the quadrant P. (Shown in Fig. l.)

Letters R and S mark the teeth-cranks, which are secured by the set-screws r and s to the stems of the teeth T.

It will be most readily seen in Fig. 3 that the two side bars C and D are clamped together by bolts U and that such bolts possess another office, which is to maintain the blocks V in their positions. In Fig. 5 it is shown that the blocks have side grooves o, and in Fig. 4 the bolts U are illustrated in such position that they must engage the side grooves o o: of block V. Obviously the block cannot now be displaced either up or down or sidewise7 unless it is desired to change its position, whereupon the bolt-holes c c are used. Attention is here called to the fact that if the block is set forward between the side bars C and D, as intimated, the pin g must be also removed at the end of crank R and inserted through the crank into the advanced orifice g of bar Cr in order to keep the tooth 'in the same relative position with respect to its fellows.

It is indicated in Fig. 3 that the stem of the tooth T passes through the block V, and the tooth may be caused to project more or less below the frame by adjusting the collar t by set-screw t and the hub of crank R by set-screw r. It is thought to be also clear that the stem of the tooth may be turned on IOO IIO

its vertical aXis and given a new position with regard to its operating and securing devices.

The pins through the ends of cranks S, engaging the connectingebar H, are referred to by the letter h, and the orifices in bar H aremarked h.

In the operation of my invention if it is desired that all the teeth shall be arranged to throw soil equally against the plants the teeth are adjusted about their vertical axes accordingly. If less than the whole number of teeth are thought to be desirable in any operation, some of them may be removed entirely. If it is necessary sometimes to throw the soil toward the plants, more or less, or away from them, more or less, in the judgment of' the operator, the normal position of the teeth will be an intermediate position to which all teeth may be adjusted. Now by means of the levers J and O the teeth on either side of my invention may be moved as required for the proper cultivation of the growth concerned.

Having now described my invention and explained the mode of its operation, what I claim is l. In a cultivator, the combination with two forwardlyconverging members each comprising a pair of side bars, the said pairs of bars being secured together near their ends, of blocks arranged at intervals between the bars ot each pair of bars, means Iadapted to secure the blocks and bars removably together and to hold the blocks in position, teeth having stems passing movably upward through the blocks, adjustable devices adapted to secure the teeth higher or lower in the blocks, cranks attached to the teeth, connecting-bars attached to the cranks, and levers adapted to operate the connecting-bars, substantially as described.

2. In a cultivator, the combination with the pairs of side bars, of the blocks arranged between the bars of each pair of bars, the said blocks having grooves at the sides, clamping-bolts passing through the bars of each pair of bars and engaging the grooves in the blocks to secure the blocksin place, teeth having stems passing upward through the blocks movably, and adjustable means constructed to turn the teeth in each pair of bars altogether, substantially as described.

3. In a cultivator, the combination with the pairs of side bars, of the blocks arranged between the bars of each pair of bars, the said blocks having grooves at the sides, clamping-bolts passing through the bars of each pair of bars and engaging the grooves in the blocks to secure the blocks in place, teeth having stems passing upward through the blocks movably, adjustable devices adapted to permit the vertical adjustment of the teeth, the cranks, the connecting-bars, and

adjustable hand-levers arranged to turn the teeth by operating the connecting-bars and cranks, substantially as described.

4. In a cultivator, the combination with the pairs of side bars, of the blocks arranged between the bars of each pair of bars, the said blocksy having grooves at the sides, clampingbolts passing through the bars of each pair of bars and engaging the grooves in.

the blocks to secure the blocks in place, the

said bars being provided with a plurality of bolt-holes whereby thc blocks may be secured in different positions, teeth having stems passing upward through the blocks movably, and adjustable means constructed to turn the teeth in each pair of bars altogether, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BRUCE PLOCH. 

